sergeantdave, here's is one thing I know. Go to the Galveston docks and go in a restaurant there, fresh seafood cooked right there - pretty much hole in the wall places, but the freshest seafood you will find. While there, you will note the docks are open to anyone walking around.

Such a friendly place, surely no bad guys around. What I don't know is where these ships come from. Venezuela has come up as a place terrorists went, so I'll do some web research to see if I can find out if ships from Venezuela dock there. Be back in a bit.

I can't find that ships from Venezuela dock in Galveston. That is not to say they don't. I did find of all the crude oil coming to into the Port of Houston, 15% comes from Venezuela. So, those ships from Venezuela pass the Port of Galveston, and the Port of Texas City, before they get to the Port of Houston. A crew member, or members, of any of those ships could find his/their way to Galveston very easily.

We know Iran is close friends with Venezuela and both countries leaders hate us.

If our ports aren't protected any more than our southern border, consider those ports as sieves for anyone wanting to enter.

We know texgal said there are a number of foreign students in UTMB in Galveston and that was a concern. So, we have a missing vial of a dangerous, killing, substance that was in that Galveston lab and now it isn't. WHERE IS IT?

That is the best compliment you could give me. I have been married to two husbands and both were Marines and both died of cancer, one with kidney cancer and the other of brain cancer. During my first husband's cancer fight, I carried a Marine flag and always put it up in his hospital room every time we had to go to the hospital.

After living with each of them for many years, I know Marine “language”, every filthy, wonderful word they come out with. I'm by myself now, but if an eligible Marine showed up, we would have a good time.

It’s the “Galveston National Laboratory” so the University of Texas Medical Branch was awarded that by the federal government and they put it on that island away from the mainland. While doing research, I quickly saw a map of the US and where these labs are. Looked like about five of them spread around the US. We know the CDC in Atlanta has one. I think that one is the grand daddy of them all.

Women like you make Marines whole, and God bless every one of you. You hold the line back home and raise our children while we’re away. You welcome us back home regardless of the dirty work we did. You are treasures, all of you.

Didn't mean to upset you, but there is nothing but public relations CYA speak coming out of the administration at this point. I'm sure they are investigating, but the story about the vial which is about the size of one of your fingers sticking to a glove and going unnoticed is absurd. If it was a bookkeeping error, why wasn't it caught before this?

They have closed ranks on this and we will probably not get much info from UTMB. Watch for "resignation" announcements and for new hires in that area. The city of Galveston will keep it quiet because bad PR can hurt their tourist season (come on down kiddies and play with the rats that glow in the dark!),

The building, to address the possibility of flooding is elevated several feet, you have to climb stairs to enter the building. If there is a basement I'm sure they learned from the flood at the Med Center in Houston and are not storing experimental items there. I'm not so worried about the workers coming in on the freighters as I am the students and medical personnel from other countries who have badges and can access these labs. Some BSL-1 & 2 labs are housed other places on campus and are less secure.

Can’t add much except to say that there is a majority of personnel there from foreign countries - more like 80%. They take pride in the fact that so many “minority” and foreign students are educated there. If they can get a job there or enter the medical school, they can be badged to enter the GNL if they work in the area of biological resarch. There are security measures taken that I cannot discuss, but once you are in the protective gear and in the lab, no one is standing at your side watching what you are doing.

Biologicals like this can be ordered from the CDC. I’m sure they are checking to see where it was obtained, how much ws ordered and when it was received. I’m just as worried about the situation at the CDC in Atlanta wit the story out today about their lax security - forgetting to lock labs, etc.

Yes, what you said. My brother-in-law was navy, and my sister held down the home fort through a lot of deployments, including now. Freedom is very expensive, to some families. And I’m thankful for every one of them, though I wish we did better for them all.

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